Batelco Introduces SMS Translation Service (Bahrain)
Batelco, Bahrain’s leading telecommunications provider has introduced a new SMS service to translate text from English to Arabic instantly. The service, which is available for both prepaid and postpaid customers, provides instant translation of words or phrases by simply sending the chosen words by SMS to 92001.
Up until April 30th customers can try out the new SMS translate service free of charge. Following the promotional period, each SMS will be charge at a rate of 250 fils.
This service has been designed to enhance the current portfolio of services available for Batelco’s mobile customers, said Batelco Group General Manager Media Relations Ahmed Al Janahi.
He added that Batelco designs and develops convenient services for all segments of its customers to deliver products and services to meet their requirements and to ensure they benefit from the best value for their money.
Meteor abolishes roaming charges in Europe (Ireland, Europe)
Mobile operator Meteor Ireland has become the first operator to abolish roaming charges in Europe enabling consumers to pay the same charges for calls and texts as when they are at home.
According to the company, the new service applies to both Pay-as-you-go and Bill pay customers. Further, the new policy would enable customers to pay more than 60 per cent less than Vodafone and O2 while roaming.
For users on the operator’s pay-as-you-go service, the call rates will be dropped to US$ 0.38 while texts will be charged at US$ 0.16. While, on the other hand, Bill Pay customers will be charged US$ 0.13 for a text and US$ 0.33 for a call. Also, all incoming calls and texts would be free for the consumer.
Reports reveal that Bill Blake, spokesman for Meteor has classified this decision as a groundbreaking one. He said that their customers will no longer have to worry about paying more for calls and texts while in the EU, with the added benefit of being able to receive calls from family and friends for free, as reported by the Irishtimes.
Talking about mobile data charges while roaming, Blake said that the wholesale rate for data in Europe at the moment is US$ 1.04 per Mb so they will be dropping their charges by 90 per cent. He concluded by saying that as this price continues to drop they will be hoping to pass that on to consumers but they’ve unfortunately not been able to bring it in line with domestic rates just yet.
Globe offers new billing system for Blackberry users (Philippines)
In an attempt to offer convenience to its Blackberry users, mobile operator Globe Telecom has introduced a new billing system for mobile applications. According to reports, the new system enables Blackberry users to charge their mobile app purchases directly to their postpaid account or prepaid credits.
Peter Bithos, senior advisor for consumer business, Globe Telecom has said that integrated billing will make it easier than ever for subscribers to purchase apps for their BlackBerry smartphones. Through the secure billing system interface, they are able to provide subscribers a convenient and worry-free way to purchase premium content on BlackBerry App World without the need for a credit card or direct cash payments. The cost of apps purchased from the app store will be charged to their postpaid phone bill or from their prepaid credits.
The new billing service is expected to commence from Q2 this year.
Globe Telecom to sign $700 million contract with Alcatel-Lucent and Huawei (Philippines)
Globe Telecom has launched a massive investment deal for its network modernization program. Globe has roped in cellular firm Huawei Technologies as lead partner and Alcatel-Lucent as project manager in the $700 million deal. Alcatel-Lucent is engaged with the Ayala-controlled cellular firm for Australia’s national broadband network project. As per sources, for Alcatel, the deal with Australia is far bigger in terms of investment than with Globe.
The network modernization project of Globe will be comprised of all-internet protocol infrastructure, extensive 3G coverage, double fiber optics capacity, 4G, overall quality and flexibility, etc. According to sources, a minimum of $570 million of the total amount will be utilized this year and rest will be taken care of in 2013. Throughout the year, Globe continued to excel in its performance via initiating post paid plans, launching value for money services for prepaid customers, etc.
Globe’s postpaid, prepaid and broadband business generated stupendous revenue throughout 2011, and the company closed its postpaid business with almost 1.5 million subscribers. Globe Telecom’s service revenues closed at $67.8 billion last year, 9 percent higher than previous year. The company said that the network modernization project will yield positive results with $170 million as savings. The company expects to complete the network modernization project in five years.
Globe Telecom reports 7 percent rise in subscriber additions (Philippines)
Philippines telecommunications company Globe Telecom has reported an increase in its subscriber base for the past year. According to company reports, Ernest Cu, President, Globe Telecom has said that the firm had a total of 30 million subscribers by the end of 2011, representing a 13 per cent increase over its client base of 26.47 million at the end of the previous year.
The telecom operator has been working towards increasing its market share and increasing its subscriber base across segments, in comparison with rival Smart Communications. Cu added that they have actually been converting more and more users from rival operators to Globe, in addition to converting more of their own prepaid users to postpaid users.
As per the company, gross subscriber acquisitions increased to 6.1 million in the fourth quarter. Further, the total additions for the year stood at 23.2 million, representing a 7 per cent rise from 21.8 million subscribers in 2010.
Looking towards the finances for this year, the operator claims that it has sufficient funds to carry out the required capital expenditures for 2012. As per sources, Albert Larrazabal, CFO, Globe, has said that the company would require raising US$ 585 million this year to carry out the planned network upgrade. He added that the company also plans to undertake US$ 234 million in retail bonds by June or July this year, while the remaining US$ 117 million will be raised in 2013. Larrazabal also said that the company will prepay its debt amounting to US$ 70 million this month.
Larrazabal states that the benefits of the transformation will be felt towards the second half of the year, actually what will happen as they roll out in different areas. Sources claim that the network upgrade is expected to improve quality in voice, text and data services.
Bharti Airtel hikes international call rates by 10 percent (India)
Bharti Airtel, a leading global telecommunications company, has hiked its international call tariffs by 10 percent for certain destinations for both prepaid and postpaid users while also reducing benefits on add-on services for prepaid users.
According to reports, an Airtel spokesperson has reportedly said tariff rationalisation is a continuous process and a function of market dynamics. With the correction of tariffs for a few international destinations, they continue to remain competitive and deliver value to their customers.
Further, it has been reported Airtel’s prepaid schemes offering users flexible billing plans and reduced roaming tariffs, will now offer fewer benefits for a validity period of six months as compared to one year. As per sources, the operator has reduced the data limit from 2GB to 1GB for US$ 1.91, while also cutting down on the price for regular data download to US$ 0.002 per 10 KB from the earlier charge of US$ 0.005 per KB.
According to company reports, the operator witnessed its seventh consecutive profit decline in the third quarter results, reporting a net profit of US$ 200.5 million down by 38.17 percent from US$ 324.4 million recorded during the same period last year.
T-Mobile continues to lose postpaid subscribers in the third quarter (USA)
Deutsche Telekom’s subsidiary, T-Mobile USA, has reportedly lost 186,000 postpaid subscribers during the third quarter even though it reported net customer additions of 126,000. According to reports, the number of postpaid subscribers leaving the operator has improved as compared to the 281,000 postpaid subscriber losses during the second quarter but has worsened when compared with 54,000 contract subscriber losses in the third quarter of last year.
As per sources, Philipp Humm, President and CEO of T-Mobile USA, has said that attractive prepaid offerings helped them add customers in the third quarter of 2011. Further, company reports reveal that the prepaid customers went up from 231,000 in the second quarter to 312,000 subscribers in the third quarter.
Regarding the contract ARPU, reports suggest that it remained unchanged at $53 in the second quarter of 2011 and went up from $52 during the third quarter of 2010.
Vodafone UK launches marketing campaign to drive mobile internet usage (UK)
Vodafone UK has launched a new marketing campaign worth $3.2 million in an attempt to increase mobile internet usage. According to reports, the campaign targets both postpaid as well as prepaid segments and focuses on the simple services that help improve a user’s daily life.
The campaign reportedly features four service elements which include Vodafone’s unlimited data offer for the first three months on new contract plans; a service that transfers customers’ contacts and media on to their new phones; the Buyback scheme allowing customers to trade in their old phones; and the Sure Signal, that enables customers to boost the mobile signal in their homes. According to industry reports, as much as half of the population in UK owns a smartphone, which is beneficial for mobile operators as date services generate higher margins as compared to regular phones and voice plans.
Movistar launches pre-subscription programme ahead of commercial launch (Costa Rica)
Telefonica’s brand Movistar has reportedly started a pre-subscription programme ahead of its commercial launch in Costa Rica. According to reports, customers who register for one of Movistar’s prepaid or postpaid plans will receive reduced rates at the time of launch. Registered prepaid customers will receive a special tariff of $0.02 per minute for calls to Movistar’s other prepaid customers on Sundays, while postpaid customers will receive a similar benefit for Sundays and holidays.
As per sources, Jorge Abadia, Director, Movistar has said that they will not have the 100 percent coverage they would like on the first day, but are confident that they would have complete coverage of the San Jose metropolitan area by July 2012 and would offer nationwide coverage by 2016. The operator reportedly expects to launch its services commercially in the next few weeks.
